In a milestone, crews place soil on wildlife crossing over 101 freeway

Crews put the first layers of soil on the surface of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing over the 101 freeway on Monday, March 31. Officials called it a milestone moment for the largest bridge of its kind in the world.

Officials said it will take several weeks and about 6,000 cubic yards of soil to build the foundation for the 1-acre wildlife habitat being created over 10 lanes of the 101 freeway in Agoura Hills. The project is designed to provide a safe crossing for mountain lions, deer, bobcats and other animals.

Next, teams will plant about 5,000 native plants in May to create an environment for creatures big and small, including bats, desert cottontails, native bird species and monarch butterflies, officials said.

“The bridge will allow for wildlife to cross freely over the 101 freeway without the threat of death or accidents, and will ensure the survival of many isolated species,” according to the official website for the project.

Experts at the wildlife crossing’s native plant nursery have hand-picked more than 1.1 million hyper-local native seeds, representing more than 50 distinct native plant species in the Santa Monica Mountains. Nursery staff are also growing coast live oak trees, valley oak, toyon, ceanothus, several sages, California buckwheat and the flowering penstemon, among others.

The nursery is overseen by the landscape architecture company, Rock Design Associates, with aid from experts at the Santa Monica Mountains Fund, the National Park Service, Caltrans, and the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority.

According to the National Wildlife Federation, coastal sage scrub plant species native to the Santa Monica Mountains will be plentiful on the bridge — part of a broader ecological restoration plan to revitalize 12 acres of adjacent open space with 50,000 native plants, trees, shrubs and perennials.

That project was launched on Earth Day 2022. The crossing is expected to be completed next year.

City News Service contributed to this article.